HARTFORD — — Even though the state failed to win a Race to the Top grant from the federal government, it must press on with plans to improve high school curriculums, revise teacher evaluations, improve test scores and raise graduation rates, Education Commissioner Mark K. McQuillan told more than 100 school superintendents at his annual back-to-school address Wednesday.

McQuillan said state officials were disappointed by the failure, for a second time, to win as much as $175 million in the national Race to the Top school reform competition, which would have helped pay for many of the state's education initiatives. But he said the failure just means education leaders and local school systems must work together to reach goals and find less expensive alternatives.

For instance, rather than pay millions for professional development workshops for teachers and parents, the state will look into developing a website with streaming video and other information for teacher training and communication with parents, state Department of Education spokesman Tom Murphy said.

McQuillan outlined the department's goals for the next two years:

•Increase the percentage of all students scoring at the goal level from 75 to 80 percent on the Connecticut Mastery Test.

•Cut in half the achievement gap separating black and Hispanic students from white students.

•Develop a fair system to evaluate, supervise and mentor teachers and principals that is focused on student academic growth.

•Increase parent and community involvement in schools.

McQuillan said his goal is to restore Connecticut's reputation for having outstanding schools and make the schools the strongest in the nation. The state enjoyed a sterling reputation several years ago on test scores, but that status has faded somewhat in recent years.

The state passed wide-ranging school reform legislation in May that calls for a new high school curriculum, requires schools to offer Advanced Placement classes, empowers parents to force change in failing schools, lifts enrollment caps on high-performing charter schools and sets up a committee to establish guidelines for linking teacher evaluations to student performance.

"I thought it was a very comprehensive way of outlining where we are and what he sees for the next couple of years," said Joe Cirasuolo, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents. "Obviously he's going to move ahead on the reform initiatives as much as he can under current funding, though it will not be as fast as it would have been under Race to the Top."

Even though Connecticut failed to win Race to the Top money, going through the arduous application process unified many educational and political leaders in Connecticut, clarified the state's direction and brought about the school reform legislation, McQuillan said.

McQuillan criticized the Obama administration's education policies that require states to compete for grants, pointing out that only 10 states were finalists for the Race to the Top funds.

"I don't know that that is a sound strategy to set up a system of winners and losers," McQuillan said.